CN107950020B

CN107950020B - Image recording device

Info

Publication number: CN107950020B
Application number: CN201680052080.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 平野悠太
Original assignee: Denso Corp
Current assignee: Denso Corp
Priority date: 2015-09-10
Filing date: 2016-09-01
Publication date: 2020-12-22
Anticipated expiration: 2036-09-01
Also published as: JP2017055290A; JP6485296B2; WO2017043404A1; CN107950020A

Abstract

In a video recording device (1) for recording video images obtained by imaging the periphery of a vehicle (C), imaging units (30F, 30R, 30L, 30B) image a plurality of directions around the vehicle, and a recording medium (35) records data corresponding to the video images obtained by imaging the directions by the imaging units in time series. A moving body detection unit (20FC, 20FR, 20FL, 20BC, 20BR, 20BL) detects a moving body that moves relative to the vehicle, and a direction determination unit (2) determines which of a plurality of directions the position of the moving body detected by the moving body detection unit is approaching. When the moving body detection unit detects a moving body and the direction determination unit makes the determination, the recording control unit (33) controls the recording method of data on the recording medium such that the amount of use of the recording medium for recording data relating to the direction in which the presence of the position approach is determined by the direction determination unit is greater than when the moving body detection unit does not detect a moving body.

Description

Image recording device

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application is based on Japanese application No. 2015-178364, filed on 9/10 of 2015, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a video recording device mounted on a vehicle and recording a video image obtained by imaging the periphery of the vehicle.

Background

Conventionally, there is known a video recording device that records data corresponding to videos of the vehicle periphery captured by a plurality of cameras mounted on a vehicle on a recording medium. In such image recording, for example, there has been proposed a technique for suppressing a shortage of the capacity of a recording medium by performing the above-described image capturing and recording only when an obstacle is detected in the vicinity of a vehicle by sonar (see patent document 1).

Patent document 1 also describes that, when an obstacle is detected by sonar, only a camera that captures a direction in which the obstacle is detected may be operated.

Patent document 1: japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2015-88794

However, in patent document 1, even when an obstacle is detected in a specific direction by sonar, a recording method of recording data corresponding to a captured image by simply starting capturing in the specific direction is considered as a normal method. The recording method is a method of recording data corresponding to a video image on a recording medium. Therefore, even when an obstacle as a moving body is detected in a specific direction, there is a possibility that the movement of the moving body cannot be retained as recording in detail because processing for optimizing the amount of recording medium used when recording the data by controlling the recording method is not executed.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a video recording apparatus that can properly adjust the amount of use of a recording medium to keep the movement of a moving object around a vehicle as a record.

An image recording apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes an imaging unit, a recording medium, a moving object detection unit, a direction determination unit, and a recording control unit.

The imaging unit images a plurality of directions around the vehicle. Data corresponding to the images obtained by the imaging unit imaging the respective directions are recorded in time series on a recording medium. On the other hand, the moving body detection unit detects a moving body that moves relative to the vehicle. The direction determination unit determines which of the plurality of directions the existing position of the moving object detected by the moving object detection unit is approaching.

When the moving body detection unit detects a moving body and the direction determination unit determines that the moving body is present, the recording control unit controls a recording method of the data on the recording medium such that an amount of use of the recording medium for recording the data in the direction in which the presence position is determined to be close by the direction determination unit is larger than that in a case in which the moving body detection unit does not detect a moving body.

Therefore, when a moving object is detected in a specific direction, the recording method is changed so that the amount of recording medium used for recording the data relating to the direction is larger than when the moving object is not detected. Therefore, the movement of the moving body around the vehicle can be kept as a record well.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a video recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a sonar installation position and a detection range of the video recording apparatus of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view schematically showing a camera installation position and an imaging range of the video recording apparatus of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing a video recording process executed by the video recording apparatus of fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a video recording method in a normal case of the video recording process.

Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a video recording method in detecting a moving object in the video recording process.

Fig. 7 is an explanatory view schematically showing a normal video recording mode of a video recording process executed by the video recording apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Moreover, like reference numerals designate like structural elements throughout the drawings.

(1. first embodiment)

(1-1. Structure)

The image recording apparatus 1 shown in fig. 1 includes a periphery monitoring unit 2 and an image recording unit 3. The periphery monitoring unit 2 is connected with 6 sonars 20FC, 20FR, 20FL, 20BC, 20BR, and 20BL (hereinafter, simply referred to as sonar 20 when no distinction is made) having a function as a proximity sensor.

As shown in fig. 2, the 6 sonar devices 20 are provided three at the front end of the vehicle C on which the image recording apparatus 1 is mounted, and three at the rear end of the vehicle C. More specifically, a sonar 20FC is provided at the center of the front end surface of the vehicle C at the front end portion of the vehicle C. A sonar 20FR is provided at the right front end of the vehicle C. Sonar 20FL is provided at the left front end of vehicle C. A sonar 20BC is provided at the center of the rear end surface of the vehicle C. A sonar 20BR is provided at a rear end portion of the right side surface of the vehicle C. A sonar 20BL is provided at a rear end portion of the left side surface of the vehicle C.

In fig. 2, the detection range of each sonar 20 is schematically shown by 3 circular arcs having common centers and angles and different radii. As shown in fig. 2, the detection range of sonar 20FC covers the vehicle width range on the front side of vehicle C. The detection range of sonar 20FR covers the vehicle front side portion on the right side of vehicle C. The detection range of sonar 20FL covers the vehicle front side portion on the left side of vehicle C. The detection range of the sonar 20BC covers the vehicle width range on the rear side of the vehicle C. The detection range of sonar 20BR covers the vehicle rear side portion on the right side of vehicle C. The detection range of sonar 20BL covers the vehicle rear side portion on the left side of vehicle C.

Returning to fig. 1, the periphery monitoring unit 2 is configured as a microcomputer including a CPU (central processing unit), a ROM (read-only memory), a RAM (random access memory), an input/output interface, and the like (not shown). The periphery monitoring unit 2 detects the presence or absence of a moving body (e.g., a person, an obstacle, or the like) that moves relative to the vehicle C based on signals from the 6 sonars 20, and determines in which direction the position of the moving body is closer to the front, rear, left, and right (an example of a plurality of directions) with respect to the vehicle C when the moving body is detected. These detection results and determination results are output to the image recording unit 3 as electric signals.

The image recording unit 3 is connected with four

cameras

30F, 30R, 30L, and 30B (hereinafter, simply referred to as the cameras 30 when no distinction is made). As shown in fig. 3, four cameras 30 are provided on the front, rear, left, and right of the vehicle C. More specifically, the camera 30F takes the front of the periphery of the vehicle C as the imaging range, the camera 30R takes the right side of the periphery of the vehicle C as the imaging range, the camera 30L takes the left side of the periphery of the vehicle C as the imaging range, and the camera 30B takes the rear of the periphery of the vehicle C as the imaging range. In order to capture images in these imaging ranges, the camera 30F may be provided on the rear surface of the rear view mirror or at a position in front of another vehicle, for example. The

cameras

30R and 30L may be provided on the lower surfaces of the left and right side mirrors and below the auxiliary turn signal of the side door, or may be provided at the side positions of other vehicles. The camera 30B may be provided inside the rear window, or may be provided at a position behind another vehicle.

Returning to fig. 1, the video recording unit 3 includes

input buffers

31F, 31R, 31L, and 31B, a recorded video generating unit 33, a frame buffer 34, and a recording medium 35. The recording medium 35 is made up of a known recording medium such as a flash memory, a hard disk, a RAM, a video RAM, or the like.

The recorded image generation unit 33 inputs data from the four

cameras

30F, 30R, 30L, and 30B via the

input buffers

31F, 31R, 31L, and 31B. The recorded image generating unit 33 is configured as a microcomputer including a cpu (central processing unit), a ROM (read-only memory), a ram (random access memory), an input/output interface, and the like (not shown), and records data corresponding to images captured by the four cameras 30 in the frame buffer 34. Thus, the data recorded in the frame buffer 34 is recorded in the recording medium 35 in the same manner. More specifically, the recorded video generator 33 converts the data from the

cameras

30F, 30R, 30L, and 30B into standard digital data suitable for the frames F1, F2, and … illustrated in fig. 5 and the like included in the frame buffer 34, and records the converted data in the frames F1, F2, and …. The data of the frames F1, F2, and … in the frame buffer 34 are recorded in the same manner in the frames provided in the recording medium 35. Further, as for this recording manner, detailed description is made below. Further, the electric signals indicating the presence or absence and the direction of the moving object (that is, the detection result and the determination result) are input from the periphery monitoring unit 2 to the recorded image generating unit 33.

(1-2. image recording processing)

Next, the video recording process executed by the recorded video generating unit 33 will be described with reference to the flowchart of fig. 4. This process is executed by the CPU of the recorded image generating unit 33 similarly based on the program stored in the ROM of the recorded image generating unit 33 when the power of the vehicle C is turned on. Further, this process is continuously executed regardless of whether the vehicle C is in a stop or in a running.

As shown in fig. 4, when the video recording process is started, first, in step S1 (step S represents step), the detection result of the presence or absence of a moving object and the direction in which the presence position of the moving object is determined to be approaching (that is, the direction in which the moving object is detected) when the moving object is detected are received from the periphery monitoring unit 2. In the next step S2, it is determined whether or not the received detection result indicates that a moving object has been detected.

If the detection result indicates that the mobile object is not detected (i.e., if the determination result in step S2 is no), the flow of processing proceeds to step S3. In step S3, a process of uniformly distributing frames F1, F2, and … and recording videos in each direction is performed as follows, and the flow of the process proceeds to step S1 described above.

In step S3, as illustrated in fig. 5, the captured data in the front, rear, left, and right directions captured by the

cameras

30F, 30B, 30L, and 30R is recorded in a round (round robin) manner in which frames F1, F2, and … are cyclically assigned in a predetermined order.

In the example of fig. 5, captured data in front of the vehicle C captured by the camera 30F is recorded in the frame F1 at the front end. Hereinafter, this data is also referred to as shooting data of the front camera. The captured data of the right side of the vehicle C captured by the camera 30R is recorded in the next frame F2. Hereinafter, this data is also referred to as shooting data of the right camera. The captured data of the left side of the vehicle C captured by the camera 30L is recorded in the next frame F3. Hereinafter, this data is also referred to as shooting data of the left camera. The captured data behind the vehicle C captured by the camera 30B is recorded in the next frame F4. Hereinafter, this data is also referred to as shooting data of the rear camera. Hereinafter, similarly, the data is cyclically recorded in the order of the shot data of the front camera, the shot data of the right camera, and …, below the frame F5. Further, an arrow T shown in fig. 5 schematically represents a time axis. Note that the meaning of the arrow T is the same in fig. 6 and 7 described later.

Returning to fig. 4, on the other hand, in the case where the detection result received in step S1 indicates that a moving body is detected (i.e., in the case where the determination result in step S2 is yes), the flow of the processing proceeds to step S4. In step S4, a video in which the direction of the moving object is detected is recorded using all of the frames F1, F2, and …, and the flow of the processing proceeds to step S1 described above. For example, when the detection direction of the moving object is forward, as illustrated in fig. 6, the shot data of the front camera is recorded in all frames F1, F2, and ….

(1-3. Effect)

According to the first embodiment described in detail above, the following effects are obtained.

(1A) In the video recording apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, when a moving object is detected (that is, when the determination result in step S2 is yes), the recording method of the loop method is changed (step S3) to a recording method in which the shot data relating to the direction in which the moving object is detected is recorded using all of the frames F1, F2, and … (step S4). Therefore, the movement of the moving object in the periphery of the vehicle C can be recorded with high resolution at a high frame rate. Although there is a possibility that the moving body may cause damage to the vehicle C, such movement of the moving body can be favorably kept as a record.

(1B) In the video recording apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, when a moving object is not detected (that is, when the determination result in step S2 is "no"), shot data for each of the front, rear, left, and right directions is recorded by a loop method in which frames F1, F2, and … are cyclically assigned (step S3). Therefore, even when the moving object is not detected (that is, when the determination result in step S2 is "no"), it is possible to record the video captured in each direction with high resolution.

(1C) In the video recording apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, when a moving object is not detected (that is, when the determination result in step S2 is "no"), frames F1, F2, and … are evenly distributed so as to record shot data relating to each of the front, rear, left, and right directions (step S3). Therefore, when the moving object is not detected (that is, when the determination result in step S2 is "no"), the videos captured in each direction can be recorded uniformly.

(1D) In the video recording apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, the cameras 30 are provided in the front, rear, left, and right directions, respectively, and the cameras 30 take images in the directions corresponding to the directions, respectively. Therefore, the configuration of the apparatus can be simplified without changing the orientation of the camera 30 with respect to the vehicle C.

In the first embodiment, the

cameras

30F, 30R, 30L, and 30B correspond to imaging units, the sonars 20FC, 20FR, 20FL, 20BC, 20BR, and 20BL correspond to moving object detection units, the periphery monitoring unit 2 corresponds to a direction determination unit, and the recording image generation unit 33 corresponds to a recording control unit.

(2. second embodiment)

(2-1. different points from the first embodiment)

Since the second embodiment has the same basic configuration as the first embodiment, the description of the common configuration is omitted, and the differences will be mainly described. In the second embodiment, the configuration of the apparatus is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the processing in step S3, i.e., the processing for uniformly distributing frames F1, F2, … for recording shot data relating to each direction, is changed as follows.

In step S3 of the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 7, frames F1, F2, and … are equally divided into four parts, and the image data of the front camera, the image data of the right camera, the image data of the left camera, and the image data of the rear camera are recorded in the divided areas. In step S4, all the areas of the frames F1, F2, … are used to record the shot data in which the direction of the moving body is detected, and the result is the same recording method as in step S4 in the first embodiment shown in fig. 6.

(2-2. Effect)

According to the second embodiment described in detail above, in addition to the effects (1A), (1C), and (1D) of the first embodiment described above, the following effects are obtained.

(2A) In the video recording apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment, when a moving object is not detected (that is, when the determination result in step S2 is "no"), recording is performed based on an image division method in which each frame F1, F2, … is equally divided into four parts and shot data relating to each direction in the front, rear, left, and right directions is allocated to each divided region. Therefore, it is possible to record images captured in each direction at a high frame rate and to suppress missing of a decisive moment.

In the video recording apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment, the cameras 30 are provided in the front, rear, left, and right directions, respectively, and the cameras 30 capture images in the directions corresponding to the directions, respectively. Therefore, it is possible to further favorably suppress missing of a decisive moment, as compared with the case of performing scanning for changing the orientation of the camera 30 with respect to the vehicle C.

(3. other embodiments)

While the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various embodiments can be adopted.

(3A) In each of the above embodiments, a total of four cameras are used, one for each of the front, rear, left, and right sides. Instead of this, for example, two cameras may be used one at the front and back or two at the left and right, or five or more cameras may be provided (for example, 6 cameras may be provided depending on the position of each sonar 20). Similarly, the number of sonars 20 can be variously changed. The arrangement of the camera 30 or the sonar 20 can be variously changed.

(3B) In the first embodiment, when a moving body is detected (that is, when the determination result in step S2 is yes), the shot data in the direction in which the moving body is detected is recorded using all the frames F1, F2, …. Instead of this, for example, when a moving object is detected in the front direction, the recording method using frames F1, F2, and … in the order of front, right, left, rear, and … may be changed to the order of front, right, left, rear, and …, so as to increase the frequency of recording the captured data in the direction in which the moving object is detected.

(3C) In the second embodiment, when a moving body is detected (that is, when the determination result in step S2 is yes), the shooting data in the direction in which the moving body is detected is recorded using all the regions of the frames F1, F2, …. Alternatively, for example, when a moving object is detected in the front direction, the area in which the image data of the camera before the moving object is recorded may be increased by setting the area in which the image data of the camera before the moving object is recorded to 70% of the entire frame F, and the areas in which the image data of the other directions are recorded to 10% of the entire frame F.

(3D) In the first embodiment, when a moving body is not detected (that is, when the determination result in step S2 is "no"), the order of front, right, left, rear, and … is set as a predetermined order in which frames F1, F2, and … are cyclically assigned. In place of this, the predetermined order may be any order as long as it is set in advance, and can be changed as appropriate. When a moving object is not detected, the predetermined order may be front, right, front, rear, front, left, front, and right …, in which the frequency of recording the captured data in a specific direction (front in this example) is increased. In this case, for example, when a moving object is detected in the front direction (that is, when the determination result in step S2 is yes), it is possible to change the recording method such that all of the frames F1, F2, and … are used for recording the forward-related captured data, as in the case of the forward, and …, or such that the frequency of using the frames F1, F2, and … for recording the forward-related captured data is further increased, as in the case of the forward, right, forward, backward, forward, left, and …. Further, when the order of raising the frequency of recording the shot data relating to a specific direction (front in the above example) is set when the moving object is not detected as described above, the order of raising the frequency of recording the shot data relating to the specific direction to the same extent as the specific direction may be set when the moving object is detected in a direction other than the specific direction (right, left, rear in the above example).

(3E) In the second embodiment, when a moving object is not detected (that is, when the determination result in step S2 is "no"), the predetermined ratio of the divided frames F1, F2, and … is set to 25%: 25%: 25%: 25 percent. Instead of this, the predetermined ratio may be any ratio as long as it is set in advance, and can be changed as appropriate. For example, when the moving object is not detected, the following may be set: and (3) right: left: the latter proportion is 40%: 20%: 20%: such as 20%, the recording method of the ratio of the area in which the shot data relating to the specific direction (in this example, the previous direction) is recorded is improved. In this case, for example, when a moving object is detected in the front direction (that is, when the determination result in step S2 is yes), it is conceivable to use all the regions of the frames F1, F2, and … for recording of the shooting data related to the front direction, or as described above: and (3) right: left: the latter proportion is 70%: 10%: 10%: a change in the recording method such as 10% or the like further increases the ratio of the area used for recording the preceding captured data. Further, in the case where a recording method for increasing the ratio of the area in which the shot data relating to a specific direction (in the above example, the front) is recorded is set when the moving object is not detected, as described above, a recording method for increasing the ratio of the area in which the shot data relating to the specific direction is recorded to the same extent as the specific direction may be set when the moving object is detected in a direction other than the specific direction (in the above example, the right, left, and rear).

(3F) Further, the loop method according to the first embodiment and the screen division method according to the second embodiment may be used in combination. For example, when a moving object is not detected (that is, when the determination result in step S2 is "no"), the frames F1, F2, and … may be used in a cyclic manner in the order of front, right, left, rear, and …, and the right and left frames F may be divided into two and the image data for the right side and the image data for the left side may be recorded in one frame F.

(3G) In each of the above embodiments, the amount of usage (i.e., the number of frames or the size of the divided region) of the recording medium 35 for recording the shot data from any one of the cameras 30 is controlled to be increased. Instead of this method, for example, when the imaging range of one camera 30 can be further subdivided, the recording method may be changed such that the amount of use of the recording medium 35 for recording the imaging data relating to the specific imaging range in the specific camera 30 is increased. In this case, for example, even when a pedestrian is detected in the periphery of the vehicle C, the captured data relating to the imaging range including the pedestrian can be recorded at a high frame rate and a high resolution.

(3H) In each of the above embodiments, sonar 20 is used as the moving object detection unit. Alternatively, the moving object detection unit may be a proximity sensor other than sonar, and the camera 30 may operate as a proximity sensor.

(3I) In the above embodiments, the direction in which each camera 30 performs imaging is fixed with respect to the vehicle C. Alternatively, for example, two cameras 30 may be provided at the right front end portion and the left rear end portion of the vehicle C and rotated, so that the former camera 30 captures the front and right sides of the vehicle C, and the latter camera 30 captures the rear and left sides of the vehicle. Further, an omnidirectional camera or the like may be used as the imaging unit, and in this case, the entire periphery of the vehicle C may be imaged by one omnidirectional camera. In this case, the same effects as those of the above embodiments are produced by controlling the amount of the recording medium 35 used as in the above embodiments.

(3J) In the above embodiments, the recording of the recording medium 35 via the frame buffer 34 is performed with the frames F1, F2, and …. Instead of this, the recording medium may be any recording medium as long as data corresponding to captured images is recorded in time series, and various recording media such as a type of recording medium not having frames may be used.

(3K) In each of the above embodiments, the imaging unit, the recording medium, the moving object detection unit, the direction determination unit, and the recording control unit are all mounted on the vehicle C. Instead of this, for example, the data recorded in the frame buffer 34 may be transmitted via a communication line such as the internet and recorded in a computer provided outside the vehicle C. In this case, the memory of the computer or the like corresponds to a recording medium.

(3L) the functions of one structural element in the above embodiments may be distributed among a plurality of structural elements, or the functions of a plurality of structural elements may be unified into one structural element. In addition, a part of the structure of the above embodiment may be omitted. At least a part of the structure of the above-described embodiment may be added to or replaced with the structure of the other above-described embodiment. All the aspects included in the technical idea defined only by the terms described in the claims are embodiments of the present invention.

(3M) in addition to the above-described image recording apparatus, the present invention can be implemented in various forms such as a system having the image recording apparatus as a component, a program for causing a computer to function as the image recording apparatus, a medium on which the program is recorded, an image recording method, and the like.

Claims

1. An image recording apparatus (1) for recording an image obtained by imaging the periphery of a vehicle (C), comprising:

imaging units (30F, 30R, 30L, 30B) that image a plurality of directions around the vehicle;

a recording medium (35) for recording data corresponding to images obtained by the imaging unit imaging in each of the directions in time series;

a mobile body detection unit (20FC, 20FR, 20FL, 20BC, 20BR, 20BL) that detects a mobile body that moves relative to the vehicle;

a direction determination unit (2) for determining which of the plurality of directions the position of the moving object detected by the moving object detection unit approaches; and

a recording control unit (33) that, when the moving body detection unit detects a moving body and the direction determination unit has made the determination, controls a recording mode of the data on the recording medium so that the amount of use of the recording medium for recording the data in the direction in which the presence position is determined to be close by the direction determination unit is greater than when the moving body detection unit has not detected a moving body,

the recording medium sequentially records the data in time series in a plurality of frames (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5),

when the moving object detection unit does not detect a moving object, the recording control unit cyclically allocates the frames in a predetermined order to record data relating to each of the directions; when the moving object detection unit detects a moving object and the direction determination unit determines that the data is to be recorded, the recording control unit may shift a part of the frames allocated for recording the data in the other direction in units of frames in order to record the data in the determined direction.

2. The image recording device (1) according to claim 1,

when the moving object detection units (20FC, 20FR, 20FL, 20BC, 20BR, 20BL) do not detect a moving object, the recording control unit (33) uniformly allocates the amount of use of the recording medium (35) for recording data relating to each of the directions.

3. Image recording device (1) according to claim 1 or 2,

the imaging units (30F, 30R, 30L, 30B) are provided for the plurality of directions, and the imaging units (30F, 30R, 30L, 30B) take images in the directions corresponding to the imaging units.